The 2025 Royal Gold Medal for Architecture winner
This year’s Royal Gold Medal for Architecture has been won by a practice based in Japan.
The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) has announced that SANAA will receive the award, which is one of the world’s highest honours in architecture.
The medal recognises the practice’s work to reshape the global design landscape, creating spaces that bring simplicity, light and elegance to the fore.
For nearly three decades, SANAA – the collaborative practice of Japanese architects Kazuyo Sejima and Ryue Nishizawa – has pioneered sustainable, user-centred design.
And it was praised by the 2025 RIBA Honours Committee for shaping “a universal language of architecture that resonates with people everywhere.”
Balancing boldness with sensitivity to the local environment, its work “demonstrates that architecture can be both functional and profoundly elegant, offering a sense of calm amidst an increasingly complex and chaotic world.”
Prioritising inclusivity and accessibility, SANAA’s hallmark is a deep commitment to creating places that bring people together and inspire collaboration.
Its distinctive use of light lends its spaces an ethereal quality, where transparency and materiality often interplay seamlessly to create environments that connect users to the architecture and surrounding landscape.
With projects stretching across the globe, its designs embody an incredible dedication to their surroundings and local context.
From the striking New Museum that rises boldly over the bustling streets of New York City, to the quietly flowing low-rise Rolex Learning Centre that “flows” alongside the shores of Lake Geneva in Lausanne, SANAA’s designs reflect a profound sensitivity to place.
Other notable works over the course of the pair’s career include, the Dior Omotesando Store, Japan (2003); 21st Century Museum of Contemporary Art in Kanazawa, Japan (2004); Zollverein School of Design, Germany (2006); Serpentine Gallery Pavilion, UK (2009); Louvre-Lens in France (2012); Grace Farms, USA (2015); and Sydney Modern, Australia (2022).
RIBA president and chair of the 2025 RIBA Honours Committee, Muyiwa Oki said: “Exemplifying an unassuming yet impactful leadership in the evolving practice and theory of architecture, SANAA’s designs demonstrate that architecture can balance functionality with profound elegance.
“True pioneers in the field, their unwavering commitment to sustainable, user-centred design has quietly blazed a trail for others, setting an inspiring standard for the future of our built environment.
“Showing remarkable clarity and consistency over the decades, their work serves as a lasting testament to the transformative power of architecture – to inspire joy, create a sense of belonging, and connect us to the environments we inhabit.”
Picture credit: Max Heptonstall